{
  "patent_number": "US RE45786",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Nielsen Tracks What You Listen to in Your Car",
  "original_title": "USRE45786E1 - Methods and apparatus to monitor media exposure in vehicles",
  "summary": "A system for recording audio in a car and transferring that data to a portable device, like a key fob, which then uploads the information to a central server.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a two-part system designed to measure media consumption inside a vehicle. A fixed monitoring device is installed in the car to record audio or collect data from the car's computer system. Because the car might not have a constant internet connection to send this data, the system uses a 'shuttle'—a secondary, portable device like a key fob—that sits in the car and wirelessly pulls the data from the fixed monitor. When the user leaves the car, they carry the shuttle with them; once the shuttle is near a separate aggregator (like a home base station), it offloads the data to be sent to Nielsen's servers.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover systems where the car itself has a direct cellular connection to upload data to the cloud.",
    "Does not cover devices that can independently record or collect media data without the fixed car-based monitor.",
    "Does not cover general-purpose smartphones or tablets used as the primary recording device.",
    "Does not cover audio monitoring that occurs outside of a vehicle environment."
  ],
  "filed": "2014-04-24",
  "granted": "2015-10-27",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Nielsen Co US LLC",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/nielsen-co-us-llc",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Kendall Shirilla",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/kendall-shirilla"
    },
    {
      "name": "Fred Martensen",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/fred-martensen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Robert A Luff",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/robert-a-luff"
    },
    {
      "name": "Arun Ramaswamy",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/arun-ramaswamy"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 1,
  "tags": [
    "consumer_electronics",
    "telecommunications",
    "mechanical"
  ],
  "abstract": "Methods and apparatus to monitor media exposure in vehicles are disclosed. An example implementation includes collecting audience measurement data with a media monitoring device fixed in a vehicle and transmitting the audience measurement data from the media monitoring device to a shuttle located within the vehicle, the shuttle being incapable of collecting audience measurement data independent of the media monitoring device.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/RE45786/gmail",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/RE45786/gmail/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/USRE45786",
  "relatedPatents": []
}